This is disgusting. A news agency that is known for defending its own governments' dirty stuff, twisting truth, and manipulating public opinions, is now appreciating a freedom fighter and a human rights activist.<p>It's apparently not because what Snowden did matches their core values, or they want the same thing happen in China. Oh yes, they certainly like Snowden. It's because Snowden exposed some bad things done by US authorities, and they can use this as political tool; furthermore they can finally take this and say to Chinese people, hey, US does this too. You like the freedom in US? That's all bullshit.<p>If you are interested in what their reactions were when this kind of thing happened in China, back in 2010, this [1] (google translate: [2]) was xinhuanet's opinion on Chinese human rights activist, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Liu Xiaobo [3]. They described Liu Xiaobo as an evil man used by western countries to attack Chinese government, while the truth is Liu Xiaobo spent years striving for Chinese people's freedom, human rights, and constitution enforcement in China.<p>Xinhuanet basically writes what the government tells them to write, and say what the government tells them to say.<p>[1] <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2010-10/15/c_12664760.htm" rel="nofollow">http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2010-10/15/c_12664760.htm</a><p>[2] <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&u=http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2010-10/15/c_12664760.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%25E6%2596%25B0%25E5%258D%258E%25E7%25BD%2591%2B%25E5%2588%2598%25E6%2599%2593%25E6%25B3%25A2%2Bsite:xinhuanet.com%26biw%3D1304%26bih%3D776" rel="nofollow">http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&u=http:...</a><p>[3] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Xiaobo#Nobel_Peace_Prize" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Xiaobo#Nobel_Peace_Prize</a><p>EDIT: typos